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Great job on everything so far, but I especially like the team names. Each one has a history to it that gives it weight.

Thank you! I was starting to ask myself if I was going a little too deep and wordy with the stories honestly but it’s nice to hear you enjoy it.

Is there any other critiques or comments on the Empire or Baysides sets and the Forest Park brand/story before we move on to some competition or even the project as a whole? I really appreciate the fans so far but the more interest shown the more motivation given, so be friendly and say hi! If not, 1951 is a fun one and will be up soon I hope.

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Empire looks really nice in that Orange set
The Bayside kit, I'm conflicted on. One hand, it's great it's clean and the other hand, I feel it should belong to someone like Norfolk or San Diego.
Forest Park is a beaut, love the home Kit.

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Before the tournament post, want to say my bad for the delay my computer bummed out on me and I lost everything so I was a tad discouraged. Anyway, I did not hit the two month limit to lock up a topic so why not keep it rolling.

1951 Invitational

In the group stages in 1951 the schedulers made sure to distance PHILA and Empire at the start because of the dominant performances shown by both the previous year, and it proved smart to do so. Both teams finished without a loss in the 6 game round robin only dropping 4 points between the two teams at the end of a combined 12 games. Holding on to the tail of the big and the bad was Bayside, getting a respectable 11 points while looking like a solid unit doing so. Group A rounded out with the Hearts holding their own with the best and Boston slipping into a on field disaster.

What happened in the B group was either fascinating or terrible depending on who you ask. The second Semifinal spot was a fight between the biggest rivalry of the tournament, Chicago and Athletic. With Chicago going into the final day three points over Michigan and with a plus 3 goal difference they had a large advantage over the competition, but still had to play Empire in their last game. When Michigan saw that Chicago let an unlikely 4 go to the back of their net there was a glimmer of hope as they peppered Cleveland's goalie in their last game, sneaking in 4 in the first 45 minutes of play putting them at a -1 just like Chicago, which would have forced a wildcard game between the two to claim a spot in the playoffs. This hope would be lost when Cleveland Defense cleared a close Michigan chance downfield to start an unlikely counter by a young David Runn who was only on the field for Cleveland at this point for experience. Runn went ahead making Athletic's back line trip over each other in a accidental collision by their centerbacks and slid the ball by the goalie. The deflated Michigan team went into all out attack but the lack of caution led to another run by Runn that ended in the net. The game finished at 4-2 and Chicago was able to go through on their -1 +/-.

Power Ranking:

1. PHILA Football

With the stronger division, experts thought that PHILA was still the best team in the event. Their core fizzled out towards the last few games showing fatigue, but nothing a couple days break could not help.

2. Empire New York

Yes they were the best by far, but some are not convinced. The unmatched power they brought to the competition in their bracket shook the fans around the states watching but Empire was wrote off due to them only bashing teams that are known to not produce as much as others, such as Cleveland.

3. Bayside FC

Bayside showed their teeth and hung with the best of them in this tournament. A team building around a solid midfield core, they wanted to show anyone that doubts them that last tournament was an unfortunate conclusion and their power ranking was rightly deserved in 1950. Most see this team putting heat on the big 2 next tournament and make things interesting.

4/5. Club Chicago/Athletic Michigan

These two hate each other but match up real nicely, as if they were related somehow. Neither talked about until they go against one another, they are both solid middle of the pack teams that now decide their own fate, either claw up the ladder or fall into mediocracy.

6. Forest Park Hearts

Unsure of this decision, the experts cut the Hearts a break this year. They came and they showed they were in the mix and that is what was expected of the group. Although eyes have not been on them long it was more that the other teams left did not deserve the sixth spot opposed to the Hearts actually earning it.

7. BYBC

They have everything they need to be a club on Bayside's level but cannot quite figure it out. With the amount of youthful talent you would think it would be lights out for Boston, but with the lack of leadership on the field the potential is just not being utilized. Maybe in a few years noise could be made, but today is not the day.

8. Cleveland

Made some big steps towards not being a joke this year, but still have a ways to go. With big off season scouting plans, Cleveland and Mr. White are on a spending frenzy just to not be in the basement anymore. As for the current players, a nice boost of confidence was given when they were able to play a hand in the tragedy of Michigan. This boys are hungry but just need to grow a bit.

Again, thank you for the patience, the playoffs will be here shortly as PHILA plays Chicago and Empire takes on Bayside. Fans are guessing PHILA will beat Chicago with comfortable 5-2 win on aggregate and a tougher 3-2 aggregate win for Empire over Bayside.

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This is my first time seeing this thread, and after looking through it I must say the logos look awesome! Especially Empire NY, Bayside FC and Club Chicago. I also love Forest Park’s uniforms! I’ll deinitefly be following this series.

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This is my first time seeing this thread, and after looking through it I must say the logos look awesome! Especially Empire NY, Bayside FC and Club Chicago. I also love Forest Park’s uniforms! I’ll deinitefly be following this series.

Happy to have a follower! Thank you for your kind words. Any one team’s story, performance, logo or jersey earned your overall support yet? I just find it interesting to know who backs who! Playoffs will be out tomorrow.

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I just saw this series for the first time and I plan on following it closely. As of right now I'd say that I'll be supporting Athletic Michigan because I'm a sucker for light blue. If a team joins from Minnesota I'll have to switch my allegiance but for now Go Greasers!

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The first conventional playoffs in the invite started with a dominant performance put together by the Procobe brothers, who combined for all four goals in the home match. The only flaw they had was giving Chicago a glimmer of hope when they were able to capture a single away goal caused by lazy defense late in the game. Game two started with an exchange of goals and went to half with the Butchers one goal up due to their trademark aggressive style that shook the Brothers going into half. This aggressive play ultimately cost Chicago when they gave up a questionable free kick outside the box that was perfectly placed in the top right corner of the net by Franklin Procobe, the most dominant player in United States football. Although they scored another goal, Club Chicago knew their defeat was clear reaching the 90th minute and the bid for the championship was sealed when PHILA midfielder, Wayne Shurey, popped one over Chicago's goalie in the 93'. This would end the series at 7-4 in Philadelphia's favor, in an absolute offensive battle that no one saw coming.

On the other side of the tree stood a heavy powered Empire team and a promising Bayside squad that looked like they could match what New York had to offer. Game one saw a real good showing from Bayside early, getting the chances but without any luck. At one point the Empire team even seemed to be losing their heads as their coach started subbing players in and out wasting 3 of 5 subs in the first 30 minutes. Going into half Walter Ward, respected owner of Empire New York, decided to fire his hectic coach on the spot for the reckless behavior shown and took over the sideline on his own. Ward was not the smartest when it came to football but the man was an admirable leader and that showed when his Penguins decided to show up on the field for the second half putting three in the back of the net then cruising to a win letting up no shots along the way. In game two of the pair of matches, New York came out hot off the start scoring 2 in the first ten minutes, giving Bayside little to no hope at all at a title run but everything was left it all on the field. By the time the game ended Bayside managed to tie it by capitalizing on the over offensive play displayed by Empire's team, making it look like a good game but ending it 5-2 on aggregate. In an interview following the series Ward was recorded saying,"I might not know much about this beautiful game, but I am familiar with common sense" when asked about why he fired his head coach mid game.

The Finals

Per tournament rules, the final game was played in Cleveland at the beautiful White Way where the first Invite final was held just a year prior. This game was more interesting though, and showed a lot less goals out of teams usually known for being offensive threats. On this day fans got to see a very conservative game out of both teams. PHILA was scared of Empire's goal difference and Empire was scared of their offensive slip ups in the previous game against Bayside. One goal was seen the whole competition when a New York corner took a wonky bounce off an upturned patch of field in the box 12 minutes into the game, giving Empire their first Invite cup in the wackiest way possible. New York goalie Jordan Vineen was asked about how he felt about the game during celebration and he responded by saying,"I feel bad for PHILA, we all love their guys and they all love us and you would have expected a more conclusive battle with the amount of talent on the field. I can not be satisfied with the 90 minutes but I will be happy the rest of my life knowing I have been the best in this country at one point". Although the loss was sour for Philadelphia, it was still the healthiest rivalry in all of football, so the drinks were on them for the night when both went out to celebrate the conclusion of the 1951 Invitational.

Finally, the 1951 Invite is out completely! Now, the events leading to 1952 Invitational and the Invitational has already been seemed I will just need to put them together. I am busy but I hope to get it out in a timely manner. Until then I will be doing the offseason soon and inclusion of other states is being considered for 1953, but I am having trouble thinking which ones should really come next. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed it. Feel free to comment with any feedback or thoughts.

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Following the 1951 season PHILA started taking heat from the Pennsylvania Club Football Association for participating in the Invitational competition. Initially the PCFA threatening to deduct 6 points off an 18 game season for PHILA, which the Brothers were ok with at first. What followed would set history in motion, the PCFA then decided to add another 6 point deduction for what they considered "arrogance", adding up to 12 points and essentially taking away 4 whole games from their season. PHILA Football responded to this by withdrawing from the league, and instead of folding like many thought would happen, they went directly to William Miller to see if he would act as the head of a brand new football league based on the participants in the Invitation.

At first Will was unsure of handling a job of that capacity, but with thought he found an opportunity to keep the heartbeat of his beloved tournament for years to come. By requiring all participants in his league to commit to the Invitational every year he could create a solid base for the tournament no matter who else would be playing in it. Along with that, he asked that there be a game between the winner of the league and the winner of the tournament play for the ultimate Invitation prize to see if any new comer in the tournament could show up his own league, and per request of his best friend, Cleveland had a spot in the league no matter how below par they were.

Some teams were scared of the lack of stability making the jump to the new league and some did not think the competition was good enough to begin with, but at the end of the day four teams committed. The inaugural season of the United States Invitational Football League would include PHILA Football, Empire New York, who was persuaded by their rival club to join, Forest Park Hearts, and Cleveland United. Yes, there is a variety of talent, but a 16 game season will ultimately show who would be the best out of these friendly clubs.

The other four teams to not make the jump will have a small update on how they are doing during the USIFL post so fans can keep up to date with their teams as well.

Player News

Boston seems to be the highlight of the offseason, with state success they still can not find the spotlight on a higher level and are getting frustrated. Moves of players between the youth squad and senior squad are frequent and a lot of players are even being dropped when not performing instantly. They are exhausting their resources and seem to need some more than what they have to straighten out the squad. One glimmer of hope is, again, young prospect Aaron Ward (forgot to mention that he has no relation to ENY's owner Walter Ward), who has become the captain of Boston's sinking ship probably before he was ready for it, ultimately affecting his play as well.

Bayside seems to be sitting right where everyone thought Boston would be. Within a year an average team has become a fantastic team by connecting two squads and trimming the fat. It was a very aggressive move, and most were unsure of what the chemistry would look like, but it turned in to quite the reward.

PHILA and Empire show similar qualities in their squad as well. Age is a concerning factor for both teams as they are nearing peaks out of many of players from the two sides, Empire more than PHILA. Look for these teams to invest in development of youth in years to come to keep dominance.

As stated before, Michigan and Chicago are in the same boat despite hating each other. The difference of the two is Chicago is putting more focus on development after taking in so much talent the year prior, trying to fine tune what they have. On the other end of the spectrum is Athletic who is showing that they think scouting the Michigan Regional Premiership would be the best option to find their gem.

Forest Park seems to be the outlier for many fans. They are not making a lot of noise with flashy signings or big camps, but they are expanding some depth from a real solid core. By doing this they hope to gain some legs for the season to come in a league that has the focus of the football world now.

Uniform News

One of the rules included in the USIFL is that all teams must have a clash kit in the case that the teams playing might have similar jerseys. This meant that both PHILA Football and Cleveland United received some shiny new threads. (Empire and Forest Park decided to stick to what they had this year)

PHILA Football

Unsure of what to do, and not wanting to clash ideas like the hot headed Procobe brothers are known to do, PHILA decided to go with their original idea of combining the two clubs colors for the kit, which they had when the team was first founded. Instead of going all out with green, purple, orange, and yellow, the boys decided to leave out yellow because it was already included in the main kit, and try to keep things subtle to not make the other colors an eyesore together. They ended up finishing with a nice white base, black accents and three bands on both arms, one of each color that was left out originally. The kit also includes black shorts to not overwhelm the fans with white, leaving PHILA with the classiest they could produce with the colors they used.

Cleveland United

Cleveland once again went with a loud and proud look for their clash that was based this time off the Cleveland flag to give a sense of home grown pride. On this jersey the right arm is red the base is white and finishes with the left arm being blue to go along with the theme. Along with their normal kit's shorts and a slightly altered sock pattern, these kits are a lot less loud than what they prefer to wear.

That is all I got. Get ready for the 1951 USIFL inaugural season coming soon.